6:08pm UK, Monday January 24, 2011
The jury hearing Lord Taylor’s trial have been told to disregard suggestions other peers were abusing their expenses when they decide if he is guilty of making false claims.
Lord Taylor denies making false expenses claims
The former Tory peer faces charges relating to costs he claimed for travel between an Oxford property he listed as his main residence and the Houses of Parliament.
The former barrister faces six charges of false accounting after it emerged he had never spent the night at the Oxford house which is owned by his half-nephew’s partner.
Summing up, Mr Justice Saunders told the jury the claim others may have committed similar offences was not relevant to the decision they had to make.
“That is not a consideration for you,” he told them. “It is not for you to decide who should be, and who shouldn’t be, prosecuted.”
He told them they would not begin considering their verdict until Tuesday.
The Judge said Lord Taylor was a man of good character who had spent much of his life serving others.
Defence lawyer Mohammed Khamisa QC told the court that the case built by the prosecution was torpedoed by the fact Lord Taylor was not motivated by money.
“He is a humble man, a gentle and honest man, with a clear moral compass,” he said. “He is not a man with a silver spoon in his mouth.”
Mr Khamisa told the jury peers regarded their expenses as a form of allowance as 85% of them claimed the maximum amount.
He said Lord Taylor was advised to designate a home outside London as his “main residence” and trusted their experience.
But Helen Law, prosecuting, said the guidelines were very clear and it was not the system that was on trial, but Lord Taylor.
“If you had only one home, the place you eat and sleep each night, would you have any difficulty knowing which was your main residence?” she asked.
Lord Taylor knew what the rules were and knew he was dishonestly claiming, she said.
The 59-year-old, who has resigned as the Conservative whip, denies the charges and claims he listed the Oxford home as his main address following advice from colleagues.
Lord Taylor of Warwick lives in Ealing in west London but maintains there was ambiguity about the term “main residence”.
He said there were “difficulties” among peers and that he was not the only person who struggled with the concept.
Lord Taylor told Southwark Crown Court: “It was a quirk like many other things in the House of Lords.”
The peer maintained he had been advised that House of Lords expenses were like “allowances” and said “the policy was to claim the maximum”.
He explained the expenses were “in lieu of salary” as there was “no realistic prospect” of Lords being paid.
The charges of false accounting relate to various dates between March 2006 and October 2007.